The Finish Line

     Throughout this semester, I have been writing a blog over general health and wellness.  I can honestly say that I never thought that I would participate in writing a blog.  While it may not have been something I fancied to do, it did have some effect on me.  For example, when I was looking up information on individual wellness, I realized that some parts of my life needed a change. Anyways, as the semester comes to an end so will my blog.  It's been a good experience, but it will not be something that I will continue to do with my time.  For my last blog, I wanted to form a general outline of health and well-being.

     There are seven dimensions of wellness. There is emotional, physical, social, occupational, environmental, intellectual, and spiritual.  A person that manages these seven portions of their life are considered a "well" person.



     For general health, the key is a well-balanced diet and the required amount of daily exercise.  The hardest part of general health for most people is the well-balanced diet.  Some people tend to crave specific foods, usually unhealthy foods, which causes them to break a healthy diet.  The key is being disciplined enough to limit one's intake of unhealthier foods.  What makes diets so difficult in America today is the large amounts of unhealthy foods being produced.  Everywhere you turn there is a new toxic food product being made or displayed for the consumers to buy.

     For more information over these topics, go to http://www.wellness.com/.  This website contains all needed information for maintain a full, well lifestyle. Thanks and gig'em.

Difference in Being Healthy and Losing Weight

     Is losing weight always healthy?  While a lot of people may answer this question yes, the correct answer is no.  Plenty of Americans, especially girls, lose weight in a very unhealthy manner.  You hear all the time of people not eating or barely eating to lose unwanted weight.  This way of going about losing weight is extremely unhealthy, and in the long run can actually cause you to gain weight. 
     When an individual stops eating the proper amount of nutrients the person will lose weight but not the weight that person may have wanted.  When you cut your diet down to scarse amounts of food, most likely, you will not take in enough proteins.  With this lack of proteins the individual will lose their muscles which will cause a drop in weight.  The individual's body fat percentage will increase, even if they look skinnier.  As soon as that person stops their 'diet' and starts eating like normal Americans, the weight they put back on is not going to look attractive. 
     Not only will the person's body fat percentage increase with the lack of food diet, but the individual will not be getting the proper amounts of nutrients.  The human body needs a certain amount of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins everyday.  Good carbs give the body energy to stay focussed and get through the day.  The proper fats are neccesary for the organs of the body.  And proteins allow for muscle growth and stamina.  A proper combination of these three things daily will help lead to a healthy life.

Healthy College Life

     The key to a healthy college life is to balance your schedule with exercise, schoolwork, relaxation, and the correct relationships.  Being a student at Texas A&M, I have learned to manage my schedule accordingly, but this also goes for college students all over the country.  

     Schoolwork and studying are crucial when it comes to a successful college student, but some people over-do it which leads to massive amounts of stress.  When you manage your time accordingly you will have stress, but it's a good stress.  It's a stress that allows you to accomplish the tasks at hand.  A healthy life consist of this stress.  The wrong stress is the stress that makes you feel like you will never accomplish the assignments.  This stress will add extra pressure to yourself, and lead you to an unhealthy lifestyle.  To manage these stress-levels, one must incorporate side activities to one's schedule.  

     Exercise is one side activity that can get your mind off of school and makes you feel better.  Exercise can give the individual more energy, and allow the individual to have an increase in focus.  Not only this, but it is key for a generally healthy lifestyle.  When you start feeling stressed or over-loaded with work, make a trip to a city park, weight room, or even  take a walk around a neighborhood.  

     Relationships can help and hurt you in college.  That is why it is very important to maintain correct relations with people around you.  It is important to have friends that have the same interest as you do.  This is a mutual relationship that can help reduce the stress levels.  

7 Dimensions of Wellness

     When people think of health, most tend to perceive it as physical status.  There are actually seven portions of being healthy.  There is emotional, intellectual, social, spiritual, physical, occupational, and environmental.  Each of these contribute to having a healthy lifestyle.  

     Being emotionally healthy is the ability to enjoy life despite unexpected challenges and problems.  This deals with expressing feelings and emotions in a positive manner.  Holding in negative emotions can lead to stress and illnesses.  Keeping a positive mind-set can help lead to a healthier, happier life.  For college students, one needs to find an activity or something that is relaxing and allows one to take a mental vacation.

     Intellectual health lets an individual explore more opportunities to learn and grow.  To be intellectually healthy, one must regularly engage in new learning opportunities and experiences. When you grow intellectually, your mind can have influence over your body.  

     A portion of health that people might not immediately spot is social health.  Social health is the ability to relate and interact with others.  For some people, like me, it is uncomfortable, but it is very important for one's overall well-being.  For college students, being in an organization helps with this portion.  It allows the individual to interact with their peers.  Being respectful and caring for others is an example of being socially healthy.

     Spiritually health helps a person reach a sense of inner peace.   A person's good ethics, values, and morals contribute to their spiritual health.  This can help give you the sense that all is right with the world.  For some, attending church can help with this. 

     The most common thought of health is physical health.  Being physically health can lead to more energy and a sound mind.  To achieve this portion of being healthy, one must exercise, eat right, get appropriate amount of sleep, and avoid risky social behavior.  Locally there are many parks one can go to to acquire the correct amount of exercise. 

     For college students, occupational health begins with determining what roles, activities, and commitments takes up a majority of their time.  One must learn to balance personal and professional time to achieve the most fulfilling wellness.

     Last but not least there is environmental health.  Components to this health are access to clean air, nutritious foods, sanitary water, and adequate clothing and shelter.  For the most part, one's environment needs to be clean and safe.

     Adults in the working world along with college students should learn to practice these forms of health to have a good sense of wellness.  If one has a good senses of wellness, it will make life more enjoyable even through tough times this world has to offer.

Blaming Fast Food

     Why is it, that people want to blame fast food joints for their unhealthy eating habits, and therefore, their obesity?  Some people might find this to be a dumb question because fast food is very unhealthy, but the truth is, fast food places don't make an individual eat there.  People that are not very strict with their diet will continue to eat unhealthy until they either have a physical problem , they finally notice what these toxic foods are doing to them.  The problem with this is that they immediately blame the fast food industry.  People need to learn to take responsibility for their actions and accept that it is their fault. Several time the people have tried to sue that business for selling them unhealthy foods.  This is just wrong.  The company is just doing whatever they can to earn money and if the people are willing to intake this poison  then all the power to them.  It is the individual's choice to purchase the items.  I'm not trying to take all the blame off of the food places, but we, especially Americans, need to learn a proper diet and avoid stuffing our faces in their garbage. 

Addition of Supplements

     Some people may view taking supplements as being harmful to the body because of the extra chemicals that may be contained in them.  But in reality, most supplements give the body the needed amount of nutrients.  For general health the body needs a certain amount of nutrients a day, and most people don't come close to reaching those limits.  While supplements are extremely beneficial, they can also cause harm to one's self in a couple ways.

     Supplements can increase your metabolism, focus, and energy levels.  A good example of supplements that do these are pre-workout supplements and fat loss supplements.  These products increase your heart rate to keep your system moving, and therefore burns calories throughout the day.  These can also become harmful if you: eat unhealthy, take too much of the supplement, or take multiple types at the same time.  Pre-workout and fat loss products can also include mood enhancers.  Which help you get through the day.  And the most important benefit is the nutrients that they supply.  Most people don't intake the correct amount of nutrients a day.  If you look at the number you're supposed to in-take, you will find it hard to get to those numbers.  These supplements can help with that. 

     Before you consume any supplements, make sure that you know what is contained in them.  Research and learn about the side-effects and the chemicals they contain.  Also, follow the directions on the bottle or jug to see how much or how often to take the product.  I have found that this website, http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/index.html, has cheap but reliable supplements that you can purchase.  It also has discussion sections for each product where you can learn information about every supplement.

A Solid Core

     A six-pack of abs, which tends to be the most popular muscle group, has a few myths about it.  Myth one, just working the core out will give you a six-pack.  Myth two, only actually core exercises can strengthen your abdomin.  And finally myth three, you have to exercise the abs to have the muscle group.  I'm sure most have heard these statements at one point in time or another, but they are all myths.
     For myth one, most people think that doing core exercises all the time will lead to a six-pack.  While that is true, the most important part of gaining a six-pack is a clean diet and cardio exercises.  To also answer myth three, the human body comes complete with the abdominal muscle group.  To see that that muscle group, one needs to strip the layers of fat around it.  It's like any other body part.  A clean diet alone can lead to a six-pack, but if you have a hard time eating clean all the time, cardio is the perfect solution to that.  Myth one does have some truth to it though.  You do need to work the core out for the best possible results.  Myth two tends to be the most popular.  While core exercises "hit" the muscle group the best, almost any movement can benefit the core.  Daily walking can even be a good core workout.  The key thing to remember is to focus and isolate that muscle group each time you lift your knee up. 
     A clean diet, cardio, and focussing on everyday movement can lead to the stomach you have always wanted. 

Eating Habits

     You always hear people say that eating healthy makes you feel better,  but people don't stick with healthy eating habits long enough to feel or see the effect.  Most people blow off a sound diet because they feel it isn't that important.  The fact is, eating healthy can help your body out in many fashions.

     Some blame gaining weight on their slow metabolism; is that a good excuse?  The answer is no.  Even if one has a slow metabolism, you can improve it by eating correctly.  To boost your metabolism you need to consume five to six meals a day containing roughly three-hundred calories each.  Also force yourself to eat a healthy snack in-between these meals.  The idea is to eat something every two hours.  This forces your body to keep digesting the foods.  When your body digest foods you burn calories ,and it keeps your system active. 

     I'm sure you have also heard that "carbs" are the enemy.  But that isn't necessarily true.  Carbohydrates are the body's fuel.  Now, too many carbohydrates can become unhealthy, but too few of them can leave you worn out.  You need to make sure to refuel your body with carbohydrates, especially after exercise or physical activities.  During physical activities, the body uses the "carbs" for energy.  Once the activities are over, the body still needs energy to get you through the rest of the day.  If the body can't "find" carbohydrates in your system it begins to use the proteins in your body for energy.  This will cause you to not gain muscles and therefore lose strength.  For people working out to get "swole", it is very important to intake carbohydrates and proteins after a workout.

     Eating healthy makes your body feel better.  Just eating healthy alone can improve your body dramatically.  Many also believe that not eating will make you skinny, which is considered healthy to Americans, but really you are only losing muscle weight. That will only lead to an increase in your body fat percentage.  The body needs the right nutrients to perform the way it's supposed to.

Exercise for a Purpose

     General fitness exercising is great and important for your body, but there are plenty of different exercises that can help fix fitness problems for the individual.  

      Yoga is a perfect form of exercise that will increase flexibility.  Not only will your flexibility benefit, but it also helps prevent soreness.  The stretching of the muscles is also very relaxing.  Most people find mental relaxation during and after a yoga session.  For college students, it makes walking to class easier, and for adults, it makes walking to or at work easier on your body.  After doing a yoga session you also feel more mobile, athletic, and confident in your body.

     Running is generally the first thing you think of when you hear the word exercise.  Running is a nice way to get your mind off of something stressful, which will relax you to some extent.  You burn a lot of calories when you participate in a running exercise, therefore it helps increase your heart rate and metabolism.  Also, running increases your senses.  After a nice jog or running session you are more awake and alert.

      The best example of exercising for a purpose is weight lifting.  With weight training, you can focus on the parts of the body that you need strengthened for other physical activities.  Others just find pleasure in the tightness or soreness of the post-workout.  But the most common reason for lifting weights is the boost of confidence in one's body. 

     All exercises make you feel better about you appearance and increases the confidence in your body.  Confidence in your body leads to more energy.  When you start stressing about the appearance of your body, you start dragging and feeling badly for yourself.  Therefore, exercising can help make each day on this earth a little better for you.

     

     

Early Start

     It is recommended that a child participates in at least sixty minutes a day of exercise or outdoor activities.  If only one hour of activities can keep a child relatively healthy, then how come twenty-five percent of American child are obese?  Does it have deal with the state in which the child lives?  Is it the parents or guardians fault?  What can be done to stop or slow down this problem?

     I think that the location of the child does play some role in this nationwide problem.  Texas has a child overweight percentage of forty; while New York sits at a slightly better thirty-three percent.  These two states aren't separated that far from one another, but I believe it's because of different reasons.  Texas might possible  be higher because of the foods eaten here.  All the fried, greasy foods that are consumed without second thoughts.  New York's might be high because the majority of that state is concrete.  The children that live in the city there may not have the best places to run around and burn energy.

      As for the parents, I would place a lot of the blame on them.  It's up to the parents to provide some healthy living habits for the child to follow.  The parents also need to set a healthy example for their kids to follow.  If the youth only sees their guardians eating or living unhealthy, how do you expect the child to form healthy habits.  The adults not only need to lead by example but also by supplying healthy foods for the children.  If American parents can step-up I believe America can become a healthier place for all generations.

Problems With Obesity

     As of 2005, sixteen percent of America’s children (school age children) are obese. Sixty-five percent of Americans ages twenty and older are obese. Compared to America’s, Texas’s numbers are just as bad or even worse. Texas children’s obesity percentage is at a whopping thirty-five, and the adults are at sixty-four percent. These facts mean that Americans, including Texans, need to start considering a healthier lifestyle. Many people may think that obesity really isn’t that big of a deal, but contrary to those beliefs, obesity is the cause of several important issues.

     The obvious of these issues is being physically unhealthy. Obesity can lead to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some different kinds of cancer. These health issues also put a burden on the healthcare system and therefore the economy. It’s hard for me to comprehend that people don’t participate in general health activities even though they know the activities will add years to their lives. People need to sit down and rearrange their priorities. Maybe they honestly don’t care to be fit, but if something were to happen to them physically, it would put a hurt not only on them but also the people’s families and the ones that love them.

General Health and Fitness

     As a college student, it can be difficult to find time to get the right amount of exercise in on a daily routine.  But the fact is, you have to work that time into your schedule if you want to be a healthy person.  College students, along with the majority of Americans, tend to put exercise aside.  Here at Texas A&M, we are lucky to have access to the Student Rec Center and also, having parks and fields located all throughout College Station.  All of these places give our community the opportunity to stay healthy.
     Not only do I believe in scheduling time for exercise, but I also feel that more organizations or groups should have more charity runs/walks.  Texas A&M University has many student organizations that need to raise money that could host an event such as a mini-marathon.  Money would be raised and health would be supported.  Runs or walks are also great ways to collect money for fundraisers.  All throughout America, more fundraisers can incorporate exercise to promote general health. 
     On the national level, Americans need to become more active.  Participating in the right amount of activities can increase your health along with how you feel.  Small changes in your everyday life can make a difference in your general health.  For instance, if a busy business worker chooses to take the stairs instead of riding the elevator, they would be choosing the healthier way of getting to where they need to be.  There are all kinds of little decisions a person can make everyday that would be healthier, it's just up to the individual to make that decision.